Read the interview of UCLG Africa Secretary General in Uraia 2016 Publication – SMART Technologies and Municipal Finances

The latest Uraía publication: “The Impact of SMART Technologies in the Municipal Budget: Increase Revenue and Reduce Expenses for Better Public Services”, present the result of the discussions during last year’s workshop in Nicosia.

The Guidelines analyze trends and opportunities regarding existing technological solutions, available to cities today, and also risks, challenges and lessons learned. Each chapter comprises city case studies, as well as interviews with key actors, and concludes with recommendations about the elements that enable the success of SMART initiatives.

The first chapter focus on “Digital Government” includes an interview with Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General of UCLG Africa. He talks about the perspectives for smart payment in Africa. The example of the smart system implemented in the cities of Salé (Morocco), Kigali (Rwanda), and Nairobi (Kenya) are highlighted. The full interview can be found on pages 41 and 42 of the report available here.

The Uraía expect that the “document will inspire local governments to use SMART technologies to improve municipal management and to bring insights that might assist them in choosing the SMART solution that is most adapted to their needs and capacities”.

Topics addressed in each chapter include:

• Chapter 1 – Digital government. SMART solutions to: a) optimize municipal management such as management platforms and online services to citizens; b) encourage smarter payment systems such as e-procurement and Mobile money; and c) increase revenue through better tax collection and administration as well as local economic development promotion.
• Chapter 2 – Transparency and citizen participation. SMART solutions that may strengthen the trust of citizens in the local government, and on the long run, lead to an increase in tax revenues; as well as other tools that may help fight corruption and fraud and reduce financial losses due to the misuse of resources.
• Chapter 3 – Energy efficiency of municipal assets. SMART technologies applied to energy management in cities, and to reduce the municipal energy bill. It covers topics such as street lighting, building efficiency and SMART grid technologies.
• Chapter 4 – Efficiency of public services and infrastructure. SMART solutions to improve cost-efficiency in the management of three main municipal services: transportation, waste and water. Initiatives such as SMART parking, SMART cards, intelligent waste collection, and sensors network to detect water leakages are addressed and have proved to generate savings for local governments around the world.

Sources : http://www.uraia.org/activities/activity/uraia-2016-publication-smart-technologies-and-municipal-finances